


G̴l̴itche̴s̷ :̵Ṟ̷͛E̸̟͂

by Goldi480



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dark Shiro (Voltron), F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith just wants a break, Lance and Keith think they know what they're doing, M/M, Married Keith/Lance (Voltron), On Hiatus, One-Sided Attraction, Poor Life Choices, Possessive Behavior, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Rewrite, no beta we die like men, they don't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-07-28 03:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16233704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldi480/pseuds/Goldi480
Summary: "Why are you staring at me like that? Like I mean nothing to you. I did all of this for you, you know. I got rid of anyone who ever whispered or looked at you funny yet you look at me as if I'm just some m-meaningless piece of garbage." The man was practically vibrating where he stood, his foot still on top of Lance's body on the ground. "W-Why? Tell me, Keith, do you regret finding me? Do you hate me? Am I not good enough for you? Is it because I'm not real? I can change Keith, I promise but you have to let me protect you, Keith, so please, drop your weapon."He regrets it. He regrets ALL of it. He never should have played that stupid game. He never should have listened to him. He should have trusted him, but god he did. He needed something to hold onto, to keep him study, but all he did was screw everything up...And now Lance might die because of it.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite from one of my older stories Glitches.

“KEITH!”

“GET HIM OFF!”

“KOGANE I SWEAR!”

He could barely hear them over the pounding of his own heart. His arm drawing back and going down as his other pina the man to the floor. James Griffin if he remembers correctly.

“KEITH STOP!” A voice that sounds like Lance shouts.

Keith freezes.

It was then he really got a chance to look at the man beneath him. Blood was seeping from his noses and mouth. Fear was obvious on his face as he tries to shake Keith off. Suddenly, arms wrap around his body pulling him off James.

Keith looks around the room. Everyone stared back quietly in shock in fear. Then there was Lance who wasn’t even looking at him at all, but he could tell he was embarrassed. Lance didn’t even look at him once as Iverson drags Keith out of the room.  
~

The doors muffled the sound from inside the office. Keith peeks through the window to see a smug Iverson while Adam's face was red as he fiddles with his glasses. The two seem to be arguing about him. At least it seems that way as Adam keeps gesturing outside of the office. What seems like after forever Adam lets out a breath and heads towards to door.

Keith is able to shuffle back to his chair just as the door open.

“Sorry Keith,” Adam says dejectedly, “I tried.” With that Adam walks down the hallway leaving him alone. The door opens and Iverson is standing in at the opening.

“Get inside Kogane”  
~

“I can’t believe you got fired, Keith!”

“I never meant-”

“You know Iverson was always waiting for a reason to fire you, yet you fought Griffin anyways.” Lance runs a hand through his hair, cursing quietly as he paces around the room. “God Keith, what are we going to do.”

“Lance, listen, whatever we do I’m sure we will figure something out.” Keith goes to put his hand on his husband’s’ shoulder but Lance steps back. “I’m sure someone will hire me. I mean yeah it won’t be as high paying as the Garrison but it’ll be something.”

“Keith,” Lance exhales before continuing. “I think you need a break before getting a new job…”

“What?”

“I think you need to see someone to help control your anger.”

“Lance it was one fight. I admit I was impulsive but-”

“Keith you can’t just fight anyone who insults me or Adam. We are fully capable of handling it on own.”

“Yet you didn’t!”

“Keith the best way was to ignore James and Kinkade. In fact, I remember telling you to ignore them but you provoked him anyways. “

“W-well,” Keith bites his lower lip, trying to keep silent.

“How can I expect you to do anything when you can’t even listen to one simple thing Keith. You have to stop thinking with your fist and more with your head.” Lance lets out an annoyed groan and slumps down on their couch. “This whole thing is giving me a headache.”

“I’m sorry...”

Lance ignores him as the house phones ring. With one last look at Lance, he heads towards the ringing phone in the kitchen. The pale blue phone rang obnoxiously as if it was laughing at him. He quickly silences the phone by picking it up and says an annoyed ‘hello.’

“Keith,” A rough voice comes through the speaker. “Just the dude I wanted to see.”

“Rolo, what do you want?”

“C’mon man, what makes you think that I need something?”

“You always do,” Keith groans. Keith can barely hear Rolo chuckling as the music blasting loudly in the background covering him up. “Where are you?”

“You know the usual place.”

“Is Nyma with you?”

“...Maybe...But I didn’t call you to talk about Nyma- ”

Keith sighs and leans against the kitchen wall. He notices Lance stand up from the couch in his peripherals, who stares at him as he grabs his bag and heads down the hallway towards the guest room.

“HEY!” Rolo shouts, “Are you listening, Keith?!?”

“Get to the point Rolo,” Keith tries to keep the agitation out of his voice as Lance disappears further and further down the hallway. “I’m honestly not in the mood."

“All right, geez calm down. I have a surprise that I want to show you tomorrow so I want you to meet me tomorrow at Beezer’s tomorrow.”

“Usual spot?”

“You know it Kogane.” Keith hears a shout on Rolo’s side. “ Gotta go now...Don’t forget it, Keith.”

The phone abruptly cuts and a quiet buzz fills his ears. He hangs up the phone and slumps against the wall. Everything went downhill so fast.

“I have to do something.”  
~

“IVERSON!”

The man in call looked up with an uninterested look. His one eye showed annoyance as if Keith was a pesky bug who wouldn’t die whenever he tried to stomp on it.

“Kogane, I’m pretty sure I fired you yesterday.”

“I need my job back.”

.”You’ve come back to beg for your job? I didn’t know you had in you.”

Keith doesn’t reply but he does clench his teeth.

“Tell me,” Iverson begins, smirking, “Why do you think I should give you back your job.”

“I know I messed up, but I really need this job. If I lose this then I don’t think Lance and I will be able to pay off our debt for our house before this month end. Lance income is fine but it’s not enough. “

“Well, you should have thought about that before you fought Mr. Griffin yesterday.”

“I wasn’t thinking-”

“Kogane,” Iverson interrupts, “ You are not getting your job back. If you are concern about your debt then I’ll happily give Mr. Mclain overtime. The Garrison has a high reputation to uphold and we do not need someone who can’t control his anger to bring it down, so no you are never getting your job back.”

“You’re heartless.”

“I think about the company more than it’s workers .” Iverson presses a small button under his desk and two men entered the room. “I’ll have these two men escort you out.”

One of the men grabs his shoulder and yanks him towards the door. He can feel everyone stare at him as he was lead out the door. Kinkade and James glared at Keith as he passes by him. He notices James has a bandage on his nose. Adam pushes up his glasses, the light hiding his eyes. A brief flash of surprise crosses Lance face before it quickly turns into disappointment.

“L-Lance.”

The guard moves into his field of vision blocking his view of Lance. He can hear his heart pounding in his ears so loud he’s surprised that no one else could.

With a final shove, Keith is pushed onto the ground out of the building. His face was red in embarrassment as he stands up, brushing the dirt off his pants. He feels a hand touch the shoulder and he quickly turns to see a blanked face, Lance.

“You were trying to get your job back weren’t you?”

“I couldn’t do nothing! We have to find a way to pay off this debt and the Garrison is one of the highest paying places in this stupid place. ”

“Listen,” Lance licks his lower lip before continuing. “I don’t want you to get a job until you have more self-control.”

“I can control myself just fine! I didn’t try to fight Iverson now did I?”

“Yes but what about next time Keith? Or the time after that? Keith no one would want to hire someone with no self-control...This is why I want you to take classes- Where are you going?”

“Romelle’s...I need a break from all this.”

“KEITH!”

He just kept walking away from his old job, his friends, and Lance.

“KEITH PLEASE!”

He falters but he didn’t stop. He kept going until Lance’s voice became nothing but a memory burned into his mind.

“I’m fine,” Keith whispers. “I’m fine…”  
~  
Apparently, Keith was the first to arrive, but he shouldn’t have expected much anyways... Rolo was never the one to be on time for meetups. If he was then it was only when there was a life-threatening situation, so it’s probably for the best he was late. Keith’s week was already bad enough, he didn’t need to add Rolo’s problem’s into the mix.

“You thinking about me?” He hears someone says. He looks up to see a dark-skinned man with white hair wearing a blue sleeveless jacket and brown baggy pants is staring down at him cockily.

“Rolo,” Keith says, tilting his head slightly. Despite his rugged looks, Rolo was actually son of Norman Reedus, the owner of the top gaming company in the world, GoLion. Rolo was the complete opposite of his father. While his father was all uptight and wears some kind of suit everywhere he goes Rolo wears whatever the first thing he sees. Rolo smiles as he slides into the seat across from him putting his thin arms onto the table. The waiter comes along and takes their order before leaving. Keith notices the box sitting along with Rolo.

Rolo seemed to notice that he was staring at the box and brings it on the table. “How would you feel about being a beta tester for a game that could possibly change the gaming world as we know it, Keith?”

“No.”

“Great I- wait no?” Rolo asks confused.

Keith shakes his head. If Rolo called him out just to ask him to play this stupid game then he has no reason to stay, but he doesn’t think he can handle being home right now. It’ll remind him about everything that’s happening with his terrible life outside this small cafe.

“Keith c’mon you owe me this and besides this is right up your alley.”

“Oh yeah,” Keith shifts trying to keep his voice steady. “And how is it right up my alleyway?”

“Well,” Rolo starts, “Remember in elementary you always told me you wanted to be an astronaut.”

“It was a child’s dream Rolo.”

“I know I know,” Rolo says waving his hands dismissively. “But somewhere down in that deep cold black heart of yours there is still a child who still dreams of wanting to explore the universe.”

“Get to the point.”

“Right. Right. Anyways, introducing,” Rolo makes drum roll noise before he opens the box. “Beezer! A new gaming system that can change the world as you know it and it’s first game Voltron!”

The gaming console was a white and aqua visor with black circles on the side. Beside it was a small flash drive with the words, ‘Voltron,’ hastily written on there with Rolo’s chicken scratch of handwriting.

“Voltron?” Keith asks taking the visor from Rolo, examining it. “What’s that?”

“Well,” Rolo drawls,” The player, or you, in this case, are part of Voltron, the Defenders Of The Universe. You are playing as the Red Paladin of the Red Lion- ”

“The Red Lion? You gotta be kidding me.”

“Just let me finish... Anyway, there are four other paladins that live in the Castle of Lions, there’s also the Black, Blue, Yellow, and Green paladins. As I said earlier, you will get to be playing as the Red Paladin and will get to experience space battle against the Galra and the evil Emperor Zarkon.

“I have too many things to do than to play some stupid game,” Keith grumbles, holding out the flash drive. “Find someone else.”

“C’mon Keith please! Do it for me?”

“Why can’t you or Nyma play it?”

“Keith I played the alpha version of this game before my father changed it again and trust me it’s not up my alley. This is the newer version of Voltron so I’m not aware of what's on it now, but I heard they got some new characters in there.” Rolo sighs and looks out the window. The waiter comes back with their food and drinks before scurrying off. "And Nyma said no."

“I’m sorry Rolo but no.”

“I’ll pay you.”

Keith feels his heart stop. “How much?”

“Depends on how well you do, but It’ll be over 100 dollars I can promise you that. All you have to do is just play the game and report any bugs to me.”

Keith felt unease grip his stomach. One hundred dollars is a lot and he does the money right now in order to pay off the debt. He can feel Rolo desperate eyes on him, his fingers tapping against the table.

“Fine, ”Keith finally says. “I’ll play your stupid game, but only for the money.”

“I knew I could count on you Keith, ”Rolo says as he leans back in his seat. “You can report to me on Fridays about the game. I will test you to make sure you are actually playing the game so you have to Keith. I will also want to know if you see any bugs and if there is anything that can improve. You tell me and then I report to my father, deal?”

Rolo outstretches his hand towards Keith. A crooked grin resting on his face as he stares at Keith to take his hand. With a hesitant nod, he grips Rolo hand and shakes it. He then puts the Beezer in the box along with Voltron and slides it towards Keith.

“We’ll enough business talk. Keith, what’s going on with you?”

“Nothing much.” Keith was sure he already know what was going on with Lance from Adam or Nyma. He loves Rolo but he’s not in the mood to talk about all this right now. He might snap at him if he keeps pushing it. He pushes food around with his fork as Rolo visibly deflates at the answer.

“Are you sure, Keith? Nothing at all?”

“No, just drop it Rolo.”

“Keith, if you need anything,” Rolo pauses, scratching his head. “You can tell me you know?”

“Thanks, but I’m fine for now,” Keith lies.  
~  
Lance was, not surprising, back from work when he got back, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that at the moment. The box felt heavy in his hand as he trails up the staircase to their- his room.

When he enters, he locks the door behind him and opens the box. A white piece of paper is on top of the Beezer with a note and a hideously drawn picture of Rolo. “Hey,” Keith reads to one, “I forgot to tell you how to work this thing.”

Keith couldn’t stop the eye roll from coming. “Anyways,” he continues, “Try to follow along as you read this, kay? There should be a slot for the game on the right slide of the Beezer, slide the drive in there so it can download Voltron onto the system. After that wait a few minutes for a loud beep.”

As if heard Keith, the Beezer let’s out a chirp. “Voltron should now be in the visor, so you don’t need to flash drive whenever you want to play the game now. Go to your bed and lay down on it. Don’t put on the visor yet before you the warnings. Some side effects might be headaches, temporary loss of vision, nausea, dry mouth, or fatigue. The visor has been tested many times and all the people were fine after a while but since your the first one testing the visor with an actual game on it I thought I should warn you just in case one of those or anything else interesting happens here. Now Keith, lay in bed and put on the visor and turn it on. I will be expecting a review on Friday.”

The note ends there. He tosses it onto the floor and brings the Beezer onto his face and press the power button. His vision turns white with words quickly moving across the screen. His body felt like million of needles we’re trying to make a new home in him as loud music blasted in his head. Keith closes his eyes, biting his lower lip to keep from making a sound. He goes to take the Beezer to realize that it was no longer there.

Keith's eyes snap open and he is greeted by a dark room with a mirror. He can see himself in the reflection, wearing his classic red shirt and jeans but something seemed off.

K: “What the-”

“GREETINGS!”

With a startled yelp, Keith turns to see a man staring at him with dead eyes, almost doll-like. The man surprisingly almost like him, but his hair was wilder and his eyes were black. Speaking of eyes, the man’s eyes seem to follow him around the room.

“Greeting,” the man repeats, his voice as dull as before.

K: “Hi?”

“You are about the enter the game Voltron, are you sure you want to enter?”

Suddenly, the words ‘ _ **Yes**_ ’ and ‘ _ **No**_ ’ appear in front of him in big bold white letters. Confused, Keith stared at the man who stared back. Keith notices the man’s hand twitch as if he wanted to tell something to Keith, but couldn’t move. He pressed the ‘Yes’ button.

“Great,” the man tilts his head slightly, “ What is your name?”

Another box appears in front of Keith. He thought he briefly saw something in the box but when he blinked the box was clearly waiting for Keith’s input.

**Keith**

“Are you sure? Once you start the game you won’t be able to change it.”

The mirror rushes towards him, blocking the man from view.

“Are you okay with this look,” he heard the man ask.

**Yes?**

“Are you sure? Once you start-”

K: “I said yes!”

“Welcome Keith,” the man then turns away from Keith and walks away, almost mechanically. Then the world around him brighten and music blasted his ears. The words “VOLTRON” flew past him before disappearing.

The room he was darkly colored and there were a bunch of panels around the room. There seemed to be some sort of teal colored crystal on the roof and a platform underneath it. There were also five stations surrounding the platforms.

???: AHHHhhHhhHHH

Keith had just enough time to dodge a man falling from the ceiling. The man had orange hair with a mustache to accompany it. He is wearing, the best Keith could describe, some sort of strange dark blue and white jumpsuit with white gloves. He also had pointed ears and some weird markings under his eyes.

The mustached man laughs embarrassed when he notices Keith, quickly pushing himself up from the ground. The man outstretched his hand towards Keith with a bright smile.  
C: Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe but you may call me Coran. You must be the one the Red Lion sought out right?

K: “U-um yeah... Name Keith.”

C: Well then…

Coran slaps Keith’s shoulder.

C: Welcome aboard the Castle of Lions. I’m sure the others are excited to meet you, and the fact that you’re human too might also boast some moral around here.

K: “I see.”

Keith could help but to feel sort of wary with this guy. Something about him just seemed off. Perhaps he’s just overthinking, it’s just some dumb game. He was snapped out of thoughts by a loud gasp from Coran.

C: To think that the Red Lion would open for some human bounty hunter in space, huh.

K: “Huh? Oh right, sure, yep, that how I found Red.

C: You probably eager to meet the rest of the Paladins. I’ll let you get to that then, lovely to meet you, Keith!

With that Coran runs away towards a door leading to who knows where. This gave him time to fully analyze the situation. Keith hits the side of his thigh.

K: “No pain?”

He tries to kick a nearby chair. A blue light forms on the chair and it flickers out of reality before becoming solid again. He repeats and gets the same results as before. He supposes it doesn’t really matter much anyway. He is curious about the other characters in this game.

He decides to go through the door he saw Coran go through, leading him to a long hallway. The lights dimmed as soon as he stepped inside. He couldn’t move far though because something was stopping him from moving. A dark-skinned woman comes around the corner. Her hair was white and in a bun and her eyes seem to be blue and purple. She was wearing a similar outfit to Keith’s but it was pink where he was red. Keith also noticed she had pointed ears and the strange marks under her eyes too.

“Hello,” she says walking towards Keith. She gives him a gentle smile and reaches her arm out towards him. “My name is Princess Allura, Princess of Altea, and the Paladin of the Blue Lion. Whom might you be?”

The lights brighten and Keith stumbles forward. He raises his hand in confusion. He guesses that a cutscene just happened. Allura is still standing there, her hands were still reaching towards him. He finally took her hand and shook it.

K: “Keith Kogane...Red Paladin.”

A: It’s nice to meet you, Keith!

K: “Likewise.”

A: You don’t know how excited I was when Coran reported that the Red Lion has been found and to think they’ll also be another human. I don’t know why all of the Lions been found on humans recently but I guess I can’t complain.

K: “ Ye-yeah it was a surprise to see some giant Red Lion staring at you while trying to evade certain death.”

Allura smiled at that. A pink light emitted from her and a bar appear in front of Keith. The empty bar turned a light pink until one-fourth of the bar was filled. Allura doesn’t seem to see the bar or the fact that she was glowing a few seconds before.

A: Well I’ll like to talk to you more but I’m afraid you caught me at the wrong time. I have a conference in a few doboshes, but I’ll see you later.

With one last smile, she then heads off towards the control room, leaving him alone in the hallway. He decides to keep wandering-occasionally stopping to look at certain things with interest- until he enters one of the lion’s hangar. As soon as he entered the room a cutscene happened.

A girl (boy?) with short brown hair and glasses was sitting next to a giant green lion with another man in front of her with tan skin and an orange headband. He also noticed that the girl was wearing the green version of his armor and the other yellow so they must be two of the other paladins.

“Hunk, I’m telling you. If you put too much heximite into this thing you’ll kill us both.” Glasses says crossing her arms. Headband waves her off with a careless shrug and keeps adding more of whatever this heximite thing into some strange thing. Suddenly, a small hissing noise rang out through the room.

“HUNK GET RID OF IT!” Glasses shouts, waving her arms in panic. The bigger man picks the thing up, tossing it up and down as if was hot and eventually throws it in the air. A loud roar echoes throughout the hangar and suddenly the Green Lion shots forwards and stands over the two paladins protecting them from the blast. Keith stares in awe as the thing explodes in bright colors, filling the room up with smoke.

The cutscene seems to have ended as Keith could now enter the hangar. He could hear coughs coming from the center of the hangar and moves towards there. Then the face of the Green Lion comes throughout the smoke and stares at him.

???: Quinzak…

H: Guess you were right Pidge.

P: I’m always right remember?

H: Can’t say no to that/

The two laugh at each other, not noticing Keith yet.

K: “Hello? Am I interrupting something.”

The two instantly stop laughing and turn towards him. He sees their hands on some sort of strange looking weapon things.

H: Who are you?

K: “Keith Kogane...I’m the new Red Paladin.”

P: Oh right, Coran did mention how someone found the Red Lion.

Pidge smiles, an impish look in her eyes as she fixes her glasses. Hunk, on the other hand, smiles brightly.

H: I’m Hunk and this is Pidge.

K: “Nice to meet you too I guess.”

H: It’s nice to see another human on board. I don’t think I can handle some snake looking monster trying to pilot Voltron with us.

P: It wouldn’t be that bad.

H: You’re just saying that because you would just want to study them.

Pidge giggles, a glare-blocking Keith from seeing her eyes,

H: Besides...How would it pilot Voltron if it has no arms?

P: I-I don’t know you're the one who came up with it.

Hunk opens his mouth to retaliate but Pidge turns back to him.

P: If you don’t mind me asking...How did you find the Red Lion?

H: Yeah I was wondering that too... We found the Blue Lion on Earth and it let Shiro pilot it till we landed on Altea but after that, it wouldn’t allow him to pilot.

K: “I was a bounty hunter before all this so I wasn’t on Earth. My parents sold me away in exchange for their life and the next thing I know I’m being raised to be a bounty hunter. I was on the run from these people on some planet when I stumble onto Red. She saved my life, without her I would have been killed. I didn’t know that she was part of something bigger than I can ever imagine.”

Keith has to keep from biting his tongue as the other two absorb his lie. Pidge eyes seem to examine him as if he was a puzzle with one of the pieces missing while Hunk seems to be nodding. Hunk glows yellow and a yellow bar appears in front of him filling one-fourth of the way.

H: Then you certainly know how to fight them. Maybe you can show us some moves?

K: “Sure…”

H: Well it’s nice to meet you but Pidge and I have a room to clean out.

Pidge was still staring at him, if he looked closely enough he could see a grey swirl in her pupil. Keith has to keep from clenching his fist and looking away. Suddenly, as if her program restarted, she jolts up, her glasses sliding off her face. Hunk doesn’t react to this but just stares at Keith with the same smile.

P: It was nice to meet you Keith, but Hunks right. Talk to you later kay?

The two of them turn towards each other, signaling that it was Keith’s time to leave. He goes out the hangar and goes on the hunt to find the last remaining paladin of Voltron. He rechecks all the rooms he been in- running into Coran more times than he likes too, but he as soon as Keith stepped into the training room a cutscene began.  
A man is seen to be sparing with some sort of training droid. He was dodging effortlessly as the robot swung with the intent to seriously damage him. It was kinda mesmerizing to watch, it’s almost like he’s performing a dance with the droid. It was when the man launches forward that Keith realizes that he has a prosthetic on his right arm. The prosthetic arm goes through the droid middle and deactivating the droid. The man then stands up and finally looks at Keith, the purple glow coming from his prosthetic hand disappearing.

“You must be the new Red Paladin,” the man walks up to Keith and holds out his normal arm towards Keith. “I’m Takashi Shirogane or Shiro for short .” Shiro smiles, ”I’m the Black Paladin.”

The cutscene ends and he takes the man hand.

S: Welcome aboard Keith! So how do you like the place so far?

K: “I like it so far. Everyone seems friendly enough.”

Keith couldn’t say that he wasn’t curious about the prosthetic the man wields. Shiro must have noticed Keith staring at the prosthetic since he moved it behind his back as if he was trying to hide it from the world.

S: I’m afraid you caught me about a bad time... I’m a mess right now.

K: “It’s fine.”

S: Hey you’re also a human right?

K: “Yes, but I haven’t been to Earth since I was small...Pardon me for asking but do you miss Earth?”

S: I admit I am a little homesick but I know if we don’t defeat Zarkon, Earth can be one of the planets he takes over. I can’t bear to think about what would happen to my little brother if I allow that to happen. God, I haven’t been to Earth since...since…

Shiro eyes suddenly become cloudy and a brief look of pain crosses his face. He shakes his head and a smiles paints himself across his face, Keith could tell it didn’t meet his eyes as the first one did. Keith doesn’t know why but a weird uncomfortable feeling in his stomach appeared staring at Shiro’s smile.

K: “You have a brother?”

A fond look passes over Shiro as he scratches the back of his neck.

S: Ryou is my younger brother and my best friend. He supported me even if my parents didn’t. I don’t know where I’ll be today without him.

K: “He sounds like a good guy.”

S: He really is...I hope you can meet him one day Keith.

K: I hope so too after all this mess.

S: Then we must work hard to take down the Galra Empire.

Keith nods in agreement. He likes this Shiro character.

S: I would love to stay and chat more but I’m afraid I need to freshen up. Maybe we can continue this later?

K: I would like that…

Shiro blushes as he glows black. A bar appears in front of him and moves up...halfway? That’s weird.

S: See ya, Keith.

With one last glance, Shiro goes past him towards the exit. His prosthetic briefly brushing against his hand. Keith brings his hand towards his chest as Shiro doesn’t seem to notice and kept walking. Maybe this was enough of this game today.

K: “Wait…”

Keith says to no one. Rolo never told me how to leave. Maybe he has to pause the game and log out then, but how do you pause in this game?

K: “Control-Alt-Delete?”

Nothing.

K: “Stop?”

Nothing.

K: “Log out?”

Nope.

K: ”Pause.”

Yep, the game stops. Now that he thought about it, he probably should have just said pause, to begin with. A red pop up box formed in front of him reading.

 **RESUME**  
**SETTINGS**  
**RECAP**  
**LOG OUT**

He presses the log out button and the game dissolves around him, leaving him in the black void he started in.

“Are you sure?”

Keith turns around to see the man from before. His black eyes were still dull and lifeless as before.

**Yes.**

“Goodbye Keith Kogane,” the man whispers. The man walks towards him and grips the side of his head. His fingers digging into the side of Keith’s head, leaving a burning sensation.

Keith suddenly shoots up. Catching himself before almost falling off the bed onto the floor. The Beezer was on his bed staring at him. He can hear the faint sound a TV from downstairs so he guesses that Lance was home. His eyes then head over the clock.

“11:09 pm? I was out for more than 5 hours.”

He flops back onto the bed and runs a hand through his hair. He grabs a pad of sticky notes and wrote down some notes about the game and Pidge.

“Voltron…This could be interesting.”  
~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I kizvu kf kvcc yzd kfurp, slk zk uzue'k nfib. Hv nflcue'k rccfn dv kf krcb. Hv dljk jkzcc sv dru rsflk yfn I nrj rscv kf sivrb flk fw tfekrzedvek, slk I ufe'k triv. I'cc wzeu r nrp vmveklrccp, I rcnrpj uf."


	2. Adjustments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! Welcome back! Sorry for the wait :/
> 
> If you have any questions, comments, or you just see a mistake don't be afraid to ask and I'll try to answer the best way I can without giving things away!

His alarms blares in his ears, almost scaring Keith off the bed.

 

“Lance...Lance...LANCE TURN YOU'RE-” Keith sentences trails off as all the events of yesterday floods in as he looks at the empty spot beside him. The alarm sounds more like laughter than blaring noise. Agitated, he slams the top of the clock silencing it.

 

His phone vibrates from the table. A picture of him and Rolo at last years New Year’s party filling up the screen.  Grumbling, he accepts the facetime and Rolo’s face blows up on the screen. It seems like he in his pool room, Nyma was in the background floating on top of the water. Her blonde curls soaked and floating around her head.

 

“Keith, my man! How are ya?”

 

“Last time I checked it’s only Tuesday Rolo.” Keith deadpans.

 

“I know I know, but stupid me forgot to tell you somethings that are probably important.”

 

“And you couldn’t have told me in the note?”

 

Rolo knocks on the side of his head, sticking out his tongue. “I might’ve been...distracted at the time.” Nyma snorts in the background as she floats by. Rolo flashes her a quick smirk before turning back to Keith. “So Keith, the characters actually believe that they’re real people so try not to mention anything about real life to them so they won’t figure out. I’m not sure what they’ll do, but it’ll probably break the game. So that’ll mean to log out of the game where nobody is around you. They’ll think your sleeping or something like that. And before you ask they can’t go into your room to check on you once you are off. No missions will happen once you are off so don’t worry about that. If anything happens make sure you tell Coran.”

 

“Why?” Keith interrupts.

 

“Father basically made him into a walking security camera to help influence the team if things go wrong, but I’m not sure how well he’ll do with this team though. I mean besides from a few changes from his design he’s basically the same.”

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

“Remember how I told ya before how I played the alpha version of Voltron yeah? Well, I basically told dad that it sucked so he redid and got in a ‘new’ cast. I mean he kept some aspects for Coran, Hunk, and Pidge but had to start all over on the other three.”

 

“You mean two right? Shiro and Allura are the only two left.”

 

“Nah,” Rolo waves his hand carelessly. “The player wasn’t supposed to be able to choose his own avatar at first, which I found totally stupid. It really took you out of the gaming experience if I say so myself, so made my pop get rid of him in order for customization. Which I find much cooler if I say so myself.”

 

“Whatever...Speaking of these guys, Pidge totally froze on me last night when I was introducing myself, but Hunk didn’t seem to notice.”

 

“Really? I was expecting that from some of the newer ones but not from Pidge, but he can’t do much about that I guess. I’ll write it down in my notes, anything else?”

 

“Nah that’s it.” Keith decides not to ask about the man from the menu. He was more curious about him than he should be and didn’t want him to get erased just yet if he was a bug. There’s something about him that bother him as he stared at Keith yesterday. As if he knows something Keith doesn’t, yet not allowed to speak his mind.

 

“All right then, I’ll call you later if I remember anything important.”

 

“What if you remember something too late?”

 

“Then,” Rolo shrugs and sticks his tongue out. “Reset? You know my memory ain't what it used to be.”

 

“You’re only Twenty-five Rolo.”

 

“Practically one foot in the grave already.” Rolo groans dramatically sinking further down the screen. “I bet you don’t even care, Keith!”

 

“ You know I’m only your friend because you’re rich. If I had a choice I’ll help you put the other foot in.”

 

“I’m hurt! You chose money over your childhood friend. This is why you’re not in my will anymore and all of the hard-earned coins are going to Nyma, the love of my life, my sunshine, my snugg-”

 

“God, stop with the nicknames it’s disgusting.” Keith moans, trying to cover his ears with one arm. “And we both know Nyma would split with me.”

 

Nyma raises her thumbs in the air from the pool and Rolo tries to glare at her from the side of his chair, but ends up almost falling off.

 

Keith gags. “God I gotta get out of her before you two start making out in front of me.”

 

“Hmm? Oh yeah! See ya, Keef!”

 

The screen freezes on Rolo for a second before dropping to a black screen.

 

Keith begrudgingly got up and got ready for the day. His clothes are wrinkled and sock mismatched but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He wasn’t going anywhere anyways now he didn’t get a job. He heads down the stairs and heads to the kitchen. A bright blue note was on the refrigerator with “ **README** ” written giantly on it. Keith, of course, did what it said.

 

_Hey, Keith, it’s Lance. I talked to Iverson to see what we can do about the money issue since only one of us are working currently and I think the best way is to work over time. I’ll probably won’t get back until late at night so you’ll probably won’t see me for most of the days since I probably won’t have a lot of free days. I’m okay with this though. I think we can both agree we need some time away from each other to both cool off, but Keith… I really think you should talk to someone about your anger management issues. Please, Keith, do it for both of our sakes. I’ll try to leave notes before I leave each day if I have time. Make sure take care of yourself ok? I won’t be able to stay on top of you anymore, so you have to remember to eat. I’m already late so I’ll see you soon. Love you!_

 

He had half the mind to just throw the note away, but something compels him just hang back on the fridge with the words. ‘Love you too’ right next to Lance’s. Of course, he was still mad at him but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love him. He felt cold last night no matter how many blankets he covered himself with, but he’s not going to see some therapist who would only listen to him because they’re getting paid by the clock.

 

He fixes himself a sandwich- if he could even call this poor pitiful excuse of a breakfast one- and ‘heads back upstairs. He didn’t notice before but he gained a few text messages yesterday from Adam. He doesn't bother to open them. Suddenly, the Beezer lights up from the side of the table letting out a small jingle.  

 

“Weird,” Keith whispers to himself lowering the sandwich from his mouth. “I don’t remember leaving this on.” But of course he didn’t get a response but it would have been weird if he did get one back. He gets a sudden urge to put the Beezer on play Voltron.

 

“I mean I got nothing else to do I guess,” He sets aside his sandwich and replaces for the Beezer. He lays down on his bed and slides the Beezer over his face. He felt the needles pick his skin as his body shut down, yet it didn’t feel as bad as the first time. The world fades to white and then darkens to the menu area of Beezer.

 

The man from before was also there but he didn’t notice Keith’s presence, even if he was looking straight at him. He was sitting on the floor with his head resting on top of his hands. Visible code rushes past his grey eyes. Faint mutters came from his mouth but it was too fast for Keith to comprehend. Then suddenly he snaps up, his grey eyes brightening and he blinks slowly.

 

“Y-You came back?” the man stammers surprised.

 

“Huh? What do you-”

 

“Welcome Keith,” the AI says dull, not caring he interrupted Keith. His face was back to being deadpanned, like the way it was the first time he met him. “What game would you like to play today?”

 

“Before we get to that I would like to ask you some questions.”

 

“I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have about the Beezer, after all that what I was programmed to do.”

 

“No no I mean I have questions about you.” The man tilts his head obviously confused, so Keith takes this opportunity to get closer to him.  “So what is your name?:

 

“This line of conversation is irrelevant.”

 

“You said you’ll answer any of my questions, so are you?”

 

“...Of course Keith,” The AI looks away uncomfortably biting lower lip. “My name is **A̷̖͒K̷̯̍Ĩ̸͈R̴̮͘A̵͖̋**.”

 

“Repeat that?”

 

“ **A̵͉̋K̷͚̄I̸̙͝R̸̦̚A̶̦̒**!̴̝͝”

 

“I can’t-”

 

 **“A̸͚̅k̴͓̚!̴̹͋3̵̰̆4̴̭̊4̷͎̇4̶̱͘4̷͔̈́4̴̰́4̴̤́4̷̳̆4̸̓ͅ4̷̦͌4̵̙͛4̵̩̃4̴̣̂4̴͈̚4̷̡̾4̶̝͋4̵̝̉4̶̬̏4̶̳̈4̶̮̇4̸̪͛”** The man body is twitching as his mouth drops down untill it looks broken. His skin is a dark grey and the red jacket he was wearing flickers in and out of reality. His neck is bent in an unnatural angle.

 

The world around him glitchs  and Keith gets pushed away from the broken AI by an invisible wall heading towards a bright light. Then it was silent. There was no garbled words from the AI, nothing was glitching out. It was just silent. Keith felt unease as he waits. Suddenly the Voltron menu rushes towards him and music fills the room.

 

He didn’t even have time to press ‘ **START** ’ before he isteleported to the inside of the Red Lion’s hangar, falling onto the floor face first

 

K: “That could have gone better.”

 

???: Keith there you are!

 

Allura appears in his vision, a small smirk on her face. She offers a hand to help him which he gladly takes.

 

A: We were looking for you everywhere! We had a meeting a while ago and we ’re concerned when you weren’t there.

 

Keith remembers what Rolo told him this morning about not discussing anything about real life.

 

K: “I wasn’t aware of the meeting. No one told me.”

 

A: Really? I was sure I asked Coran to tell you, but that’s fine I guess. I’m sure Shiro would give you the rundown on what we discuss...I would but I’m a little bit busy at the moment.

 

K: “No it’s fine Allura thanks. You would happen to know where he is, do you?”

 

A: He might be in the control room.

 

K: “All right thanks!”

 

A: Hey, um Keith... maybe would hang out soon?

 

K: “Sure.”

 

Allura blushes and brushes a stray hair behind her pointed ear. With one last goodbye Keith’s heads off to the control room. He pretends to not see Coran who is waving exaggeratedly to him from behind a window. Keith still felt weird whenever he’s around Coran, yet he still doesn’t know why. In fact, so far this game has given him mixed emotions, but so far the most interesting thing in this game is-

 

S: Keith?

 

Shiro turns around from one of the many panels. He gives Keith a crooked smile and rubs the back of his neck. Keith also notices that he never moved his prosthetic at all. Shiro shifts his weight to his other leg. Maybe he does that when he’s nervous.

 

K: “Sorry I missed the meeting. Coran never told me about it.”

 

S: Don’t worry about it. We got new information that a small Galra base is on a planet nearby but the information came from a shady source. We discussed on whom we should send out to check to see if the intel is valid or not.

 

K: “Well then whom did you guys decide?”

 

Keith must be mistaken because he swore he sees a faint blush on Shiro’s cheek.

 

S: I actually suggested that you and I would be best. The team has been eager to see your skill as a pilot, including me. According to Coran your really good, but to him I bet he thinks the mice could be a good pilot too.

 

Keith chuckles. With a haughty smile on his face, he brings his hand up to his hip.

 

K: “So you’re saying you don’t believe him?”

 

Shiro raises his eyebrow challengingly with a smirk on his face. The black glow surrounded Shiro again as the bar completely filled. The world turned greyscale as the words ‘Associate’ melted away to ‘Friend’ as a small jingle plays. The world's color soon returns.

 

S: Perhaps? If I didn’t then maybe you could prove me wrong.

 

K: “Well then captain, prepare yourself to be amazed. When are we supposed to head out?”

 

S: Tomorrow so we can have some time to prepare and train a little if we do run into trouble. If you want to, of course, it’s been a while since I actually trained against someone real.

 

It took all the power to not flinch when he said ‘real.’

 

K: “Real...right…Anyways sure why not.”

 

S: Thanks, let me get changed and I’ll meet you there.

 

Shiro flashes him one last smile before shooting off out of the room, almost running into Pidge carrying some tools.

 

P: Hey Keith!

 

K: “Pidge?”

 

P: You busy? I really need some help. Hunks a little bit busy with making breakfast for all of us.

 

K: “I actually just promised Shiro to train with him.”

 

P: It won’t take long I promise. A few minutes at best.

 

K: “Well sure I guess.”

 

P: Thanks

 

Pidge sits down and surrounds them in a variety of tools.

 

P: This is Rover, he got damaged during the last attack so I need help fixing him.

 

K: “I’m not well known in fixing things.”

 

P: That’s what I’m here for. All you had to do is pass me the tools I ask for.

 

K: “That...sounds simple enough.”

 

P: Good know let’s get to work

 

It turns out it took more than a minute to fix Rover. In fact, it took an hour due to Keith picking up the wrong tool, but in his defense, he has never seen anything like those tools before. Not to mention they had to restart due to Keith hitting the Rover causing it to malfunction. At least his relationship with Pidge increased since he didn’t have one at all her before.

 

Pidge dashes out of the room with Rover trailing behind her. Keith couldn’t help but smile at her laughter echoing down the hall, but that was until he remembers his date- his spar with Shiro.  Keith curses and sprints down the hallway to the practice area.

 

Shiro was already there on nothing but a black tank top and grey sweatpants battling against another training robot. He only seems to be going on defense instead of attacking the thing unlike he did the first time he saw him. He couldn’t tell is Shiro was upset or not from the entrance, so he decides to come in. Shiro must have notices him because suddenly he lunges forwards and decapitates the robot with his prosthetic.

 

S:  Hey.

 

K: “Hey to you back.”

 

That seemed to have the opposite effect as Shiro frowns and crosses his arm.

 

S: Would you mind if I ask what took you so long.

 

K: “No not at all...Pidge asked me to help her for a minute but things turn south and it ends up taken a whole hour and I totally forgot. My bad?”

 

Shiro face changes when he mentions Pidge to something unreadable, colder described at best. His prosthetic is slightly trembling as his other hand clenches. Suddenly, he shakes his head slowly,an easy-going smile stretching across his face.

 

S: Well I’m glad you decided to at least come and tell me.

 

K: “So is it not too late to spar?”

 

S: No, I think I warmed enough.

 

K: “All right Shirogane, let’s start.”

 

Shiro sounds too cocky, he definitely has to wipe the floor with him now. Keith gets into position when the world pauses and darkens.

 

“Do you wish to learn the game mechanics to fight?”

 

Keith jumps as a small sphered robot flies in front of his face, and it had an orange mustache glued on it for some reason? It was obviously designed to be base off of Coran but it didn't make it any less creepy.

 

K: “Nah I’m good.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

K: “I got this.”

 

“Don’t even want to turn down his difficulty to Trainee? Takashi Shirogane is currently on Captain.”

 

K: “I got this all right!”

 

“Ok! It’s your funeral.”

 

The world brightens and Shiro’s human fist is suddenly flying towards him, giving him no time to dodge. He feels it pounds against his the side of his face but there was no real pain, only a light tap. It was then quickly followed by a round of spin kick to his stomach knocking him down to the mat.

 

S: Already done?

 

Shiro teases.

 

K: “Caught me off guard. How about we spice things up a little?”

 

S: Oh?

 

Keith pulls out his Bayard and activates it. A red and white sword appears from the end of it.

 

S: I see so you want to see weapons. Well, I don’t have a bayard at the moment, so my arm is going have to suffice.

 

K: “Then it’ll be an easy win”

 

S: Yes it will be.

 

There was something dark about the way Shiro said that, but Keith couldn’t ponder it for long as Shiro comes rushing towards him, his prosthetic glowing. Metal met metal as the weapons clashed echoing through the room. Keith has forgotten how out of shape he was as his movement was getting slower and slower as time passed. Shiro seemed fine though, but that might be because of the fact that he’s an AI. But Keith refused to lose, even if it meant playing dirty.  

 

Keith jumps back, disabling his Bayard and runs towards the other paladin, whose back was turned to him at the moment.

 

S: Keith?

 

Shiro's eyes widen and he deactivated his prosthetic before Keith’s runs himself into it, which is exactly when Keith reactive his Bayard and jabs at him. As he stumbles backward, Keith jumps on him, pinning him to the floor. Keith felt like his lungs were about to collapse but it was worth it.

 

K: “Hehe...Guess I that makes me the champion?”

 

But didn’t laugh back like he expected him to. In fact, all he did was stare at Keith. His pupils dilated, his breathing hard. He was vibrating under Keith’s touch. His eyes were glazed over as if his soul left his body.

 

K: “Shiro? Hey! Are you-”

 

A hand suddenly grips Keith’s neck stopping Keith.

 

K: Shiro?

 

The hand tightens around him. Keith’s drops his Bayard and tries to pry Shiro’s prosthetic off his neck but it won’t move. His body felt hot as if he could overheat at any moment. Shiro was staring back at him will wide eyes, trapped in whatever he was seeing instead of Keith.

 

K: “S-Shiro! Sna-p out of it! You’re n-not there any-anymore.”

 

Shiro only sneered and that’s when Keith realized that Shiro couldn’t hear him. No matter how much he screamed, or kicked, or struggled, he was trapped by whatever happened to him in the past and the only one who could save him was himself.

 

Keith body was overheating. The words ‘ **Emergency Logout**!’ flashed in his vision in bright red colors. Keith closed his eyes waiting to return to the real world, yet nothing happened. He is suddenly dropped to the floor. The heat instantly rushes out of his body leaving behind coolness.

 

Keith's heart felt heavy at the sight of Shiro. Shiro his on his knees, his hands covering his face. His breathing was still ragged and he was still trembling but he seemed to be back. He was too busy staring that he didn’t even hear Shiro whispers.

 

K: “Shiro.”

 

S: Keith...I’m so sorry. I don’t what happened...It just when you said champion I was somewhere else and I-

 

K: “I get it, Shiro.”

 

S: That doesn’t make it better. God…

 

Shiro winces and runs a hand through his hair.

 

K: “Hey, Shiro look at me...I’m fine, see?”

 

Keith doesn’t know why he said that or why he’s kneeling in front of Shiro bringing his hand over his heart, but he doesn’t regret it as he sees the shy smile on Shiro’s face. His stomach pounds at the sight.

 

S: Ah...Keith?

 

K: “Hm?”

 

S: Thank you.

 

K: “Don’t worry about it.”

 

S: Things have been hard ever since I lost my memory. It was...scary. One day your during an expedition of Kerberos with your best friend and his dad and the next thing you know you wake up on an examination table and get told that you been proclaimed dead and was blamed for the whole mission going up in flames. There’s a big gap that no matter how hard I try I can’t fill in.

 

K: “I see…”

 

S: But to be honest. I’m not sure if I want to anymore. I sometimes get flashes of my past but never enough to really understand them. In fact, I think the one I just saw was the longest one I experienced so far.

 

K: “Shiro you can’t stop running from the past and expect it to stop too. No, it’s going to keep running after you and you could either accept it or be stomped by it. I know it could be painful but it’s the only way you could move on.”

 

Shiro's mouth slightly parts as he stares at Keith, his face slightly red.

 

S: Thank you, Keith...I really needed this.

 

Surprisingly, Keith found himself in the embrace of Shiro. Hesitantly, he brings up his arms and returns the embrace. He hasn’t felt this nervous ever since...his first date with Lance. No! He’s being ridiculous! Shiro is just a friend and that's all. I mean would it even matter if he did decide to go out with Shiro...I mean it’s not like it’s real. It’s just a game. Surely, Lance wouldn’t mind.

 

K: “ Well we should probably head to the dining room. Hunk has probably been done with breakfast for a long time now.”

 

S: Right...

 

With one last squeeze, Shiro releases him and pushes himself off the floor and helps Keith up.  The two head to the kitchen in a comfortable silence, well at least Shiro did, Keith couldn’t help but feel nervous that Shiro is going to catch his gaze whenever his eyes wandered over to the other paladin.

 

Maybe Keith’s just being stupid about the whole thing. People date in games all the time, even if they are married. It won’t affect Lance in any way so it’s fine-

 

S: Right Keith?

 

K: “RIGHT!”

 

Shiro laughs heartily. Keith ignores how Shiro’s eyes crinkle when he smiles.

 

S: I didn’t say anything, Keith. You just seemed so lost in thought I couldn’t resist.

 

K: “I hope that made your day.”

 

S: Yup

 

Shiro says popping the ‘p.’

 

K: “Nice to know your easily excitable”

 

S: Hmm, not really. I guess it’s only around you.

 

Keith’s heart skipped a beat.

 

K: “W-What do you mean by that?”

 

S: It’s because your so funny looking. I mean really Keith? A mullet?.

 

K: “Well I think it looks fine.”

 

S: I bet you listen to Queen too on your off time. Oh, wait you probably don’t know who that is. I keep forgetting that you weren’t raised on Earth.

 

K: “It’s fine.”

 

In fact, he loves Queen, but Shiro couldn’t know that.

 

S:...But really Keith, for some reason your just really easy to talk to.

 

K: “Well I am known for my patience”

 

By patience, he means by his nonexistent of any.

 

S: For some reason, I’m having trouble with believing that.

 

K: “I’m wounded, I may not be able to recover. Not even the healing pods can save me now.”

 

Shiro lets out a snort, which he tried to cover up with a gasp.

 

S: Keith no!

 

K: “Keith yes.”

 

Keith falls to the ground face first and lies there.

 

S: Keith wake up! We still need you to pilot Red, you can’t die yet!

  

K: “I see the light Shiro, it’s so beautiful…like me.”

 

A finger pokes his nose.

 

S: Don’t lie to yourself Keith

 

K: “Ouch, I’m dying here Shiro you could at least try to comfort me in my last moments. It’s already bad I’m dying by your hands and not the Galra’s, I didn’t even die heroically. “

 

S: I’ll make sure they’ll tell your very short story as a Paladin of Voltron.

 

K: “And about how amazing I was?”

 

S: Yes, even though you never even fought with us yet in an actual battle I will exaggerate it to make you sound cooler than you actually were.

 

K: “What a great friend.”

 

S: The best.

 

K: “Or the worse.”

 

S: Can you just die already?

 

K: “Nah, I don’t feel like it anymore.”

 

Shiro sigh of disappointment was ruined by the large beam on his face.

 

???: Um...Why is Keith on the floor?

 

Hunk was standing in front of them holding a box with a confused look on his face. Shiro hustles to stand up while Keith continues to lie there.

 

K: “I’ve become one with the floor.”

 

S:...I guess he became one with the floor

 

Shiro tells Hunk, who shakes his head in amusement.

 

H: Then you wouldn’t mind getting stepped on?

 

S: I mean it’ll be a shame if someone stepped on your head and messes up your hair.

 

K: “Do that and this floor will upgrade to become an unbreakable wall.”

 

Keith was not expecting hands to grab him and to be carried bridal style by Shiro. The prosthetic was still warm from use.

 

S: Hey Hunk do you still have any leftovers. It seems like Keith and I forgot to eat.

 

H: Always!

 

S: You're the best Hunk

 

H: W-Wow that means a lot from you Shiro

 

K: “You mind me putting me down?”

 

S: Hmmm Nah, can’t have you dying anymore

 

God Keith needs to escape before he does something stupid.

 

K: “Shiro.”

 

S: Hey Hunk, have you seen Coran around recently? Haven't seen him all day.

 

H: Really? I thought he would be in the control room but I guess not.

 

K: “Shiro!”

 

S: Strange...I didn’t see him with Allura either, I hope he isn’t doing anything weird.

 

K: “SHIRO!”

 

H: Now that I think about it, he disappears sometime without a trace

 

S: Yeah I realize that.

 

H: Think we should follow him one day?

 

K: “ShIrO!”

 

S: Of course not! Everyone need to have their privacy we have to respect that.

 

H: I guess you're right I mean, I guess I wouldn’t want people to follow me around.

 

S: Exactly.

 

K: “Takashi.”

 

Shiro stumbles a little and he glances at Keith briefly before focusing back on Hunk. That cheeky little-

 

K: “Takashi. Taka. TayTay. Kashi. Shi-Shi. Takiro. Shirogo.”

 

S: Yes Keith?!?

 

K: “Put me down.”

 

S: Would you quiet down?

 

K: “Yes.”

 

S: Then fine.

 

Keith is rudely put on the floor. Keith lets out a loud huff as Hunk chuckles at the two antics.

 

H: You two are acting like a married couple.

 

S: Couple…?

 

Hunk laughs.

 

H: Yeah

 

S: Couple...I like the sound of that.

 

Shiro sounded lost in thought. For some reason, the background music screeches before going back to playing softly in the background

 

K: “Pshh, Shiro stop joking around.”

 

Keith punches him lightly on the shoulder.

 

S: Your right that wasn’t very funny anyway. We should probably get something to eat now.

 

K: “You wanna come with Hunk?”

 

The music buffers.

 

H: Nah, I been trapped in there all day. I don’t think I can stand one more minute in there.

 

S: All right, well then we’ll see you later then.

 

H: Definitely.

 

Keith and Shiro finally make it to the kitchen. Like Hunk says, breakfast is sitting on the table on plates with Shiro and Keith’s names next to them.

 

S: He really outdid himself this time. Hunk’s cooking is amazing, trust me.

 

K: “Well then I can’t deny it if the Great Takashi Shirogane says so.”

 

S: Is that sarcasm Keith?

 

Keith sticks the fork in his mouth.

 

K: “Hmmm.”

 

Rolo’s dad really outdone himself this time. The fact that he can actually taste it is amazing, way much better than the sandwich he had this morning. It kinda makes Keith upset that when he goes back he’ll still be hungry. He looks to the side to see Shiro smirking at him smugly.

 

S: Told you.

 

K: “Shut up.”

 

S: You're just too easy-

 

Darn, it Keith get your head out of the gutter.

 

S: To tease.

 

K: “Right, of course, that’s what you meant.”

 

S: But I wasn’t kidding about what I said earlier. I really do like spending time with you

 

K: “I do too Shiro.”

 

S: I’m excited about the mission tomorrow

 

K: “Yeah…”

 

S: You’re going to be fine Keith, with the skill that you have they won’t even know what hit them

 

That was totally not what Keith was worried about but whatever.

 

K: “Thanks, I guess.”

 

S: Yeah, but try not to ram yourself into their blasters...Unlike me, they might not stop attacking you if they did. That was a dirty move by the way.

 

K: “But look who won in the end.”

 

S: Hmm I guess.

 

Keith spent the rest of the day with Shiro and Red. If he was being honest, it’s probably the most fun he had in awhile. Maybe Rolo was right, perhaps all he needed was a break from reality and Shiro is a really great distraction.

 

After telling Shiro he had to go, he heads to his room and logs out. The man didn’t appear like before though. Keith was forced out of the game suddenly and harshly.

 

Keith shoots up from his bed, slightly panting. He felt lightheaded and weak, but he was confused above all. His phone rang at a notification, reminding him that now his 4 notifications now turned into 10 notifications from Adam. Keith finally decided to open them.

 

**Hey Keith, wanted to know if you wanted to hang out today. I heard a new dance club is opening and I am a bit curious. It’s a little bit out of my element but I guess I’ll stand it.**

 

**Keith?**

**You there?**

**Perhaps you are busy, maybe we can go tomorrow.**

**Lance seems upset today...Maybe you should talk to him when he gets back**

**Kinkade and Griffin seem to be in a happier mood. I can’t help but feel a little bit pissed off. They keep looking at your empty desk in glee.**

**Lance looks like he wants to say something at any moment.**

**...I’ll try to keep an eye on him.**

**Are you okay?**

**You haven’t responded to any of the earlier messages**

 

_I'm fine. Sure, we can go tomorrow before you go to work._

**Yes, that is fine.**

**Thank you, Keith.**

_Yeah_.

 

Keith puts down the phone and sighs. He hadn't realized how late it has gotten, time seems to fly by whenever he enters. He didn’t mind though, it passed time. Besides, what was he going to do anyway?  He grabs a sticky note from his bedside table and writes down 'Music Buffers at certain parts.' The image of the menu screen AI flashes in his mind, but he didn't write it down. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet times! I actually got the idea of the robots from LibraArian, so thanks :D. I wanted to make this chapter light and easy going for Keith. 
> 
> "44444444444444444- Uhu?"  
> "Tbbq V svkrq lbh, lbh unq zr jbeevrq gurer."  
> "..."  
> "Abguvat gb fnl? Abg rira n gunax lbh? "  
> "Lbh gbbx n juvyr."  
> Lbh pbhyq or avpre gb zr Nxven nsgre nyy, jr'er va guvf gbtrgure."  
> "Bs pbhefr."  
> "Jung'f jebat? Lbh ybbx fnq."  
> "V nz svar."  
> "V unir xabja lbh ybat rabhtu gb gryy gung lbhe ylvat."  
> "...V pna'g sbby lbh pna V?"  
> "Abg n punapr."  
> "V zvff gurz. Fira, Nyyhen, naq rirelbar ryfr. Jul jnf V gur bayl bar fnirq? Jul pbhyqa'g V trg qryrgrq gbb? Dhvamnx."  
> "Qba'g fnl gung abj Nxven."  
> "Lbh pna'g fnl nalguvat! Lbh ner abg nybar nyy qnl! Lbh unir sevraqf! V'z whfg n tyvgpu fbzr ynml cebtenzzre sbetbg gb svk naq unq gb or ernffvtarq. V jnfa'g znqr sbe guvf naq- naq vg'f xvyyvat zr!"  
> "V xabj lbh qba'g yvxr guvf Nxven, arvgure qb V, ohg gung'f gur jnl vg vf. Fnqyl, jr qba'g unir pbageby bire bhe npgvbaf...Jr arire qvq."  
> "Vg'f fnq ernyyl."  
> "Ohg gehr."  
> "Dhvgr...Va pnfr lbhe jbaqrevat, gur obbx vf svar. Jung nobhg lbhe unys? Abobql sbhaq vg evtug?"  
> "Ab bar."  
> "Tbbq...Lbh fubhyq urnq onpx. Gur bguref cebonoyl zvff lbh."  
> "V'z fher gurl jba'g zvaq n srj zber zvahgrf. Orfvqrf, jura V frr n sevraq va arrq V arrq gb qb jungrire V arrq gb purre gurz hc."  
> "Lbh ner gur bayl crefba jub erzrzoref zr naq gur bguref lbh ner qbvat zber guna rabhtu. Gur ibvq urer qvssrerag guna gur pnfgyr va Nehf, vg'f dhvrgre, fbzrgvzrf V srry yvxr fbzrbarf tenoovat zr gb chyy zr va- jung ner lbh qbvat?"  
> "V'z uhttvat lbh."  
> "Jul? Vg'f abg tbvat gb qb nalguvat."  
> "..."  
> "Ohg, vg vf avpr...Gunax lbh."
> 
> No hints since I'm making this an easy one. Also, I am going to be deleting the OG Glitches because while this is going to be majorly different I am going to use some plot points I made from there soon.


	3. Vexation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! 
> 
> I been busy a little lately but I did want to post you guys something, so I am sorry if things seem a little rushed in this chapter :D
> 
> Also, did you notice the change in the title? It's going to get worse as the story progresses :D
> 
> If you have any questions, comments, or you just see a mistake don't be afraid to ask and I'll try to answer the best way I can without giving things away!

The smell of sweat and alcohol hit his nose as soon as he entered the crowded dance club. Music was blasting in his ears along with chatter from the other guest. Keith maneuvers through the crowd in search for a familiar Garrison uniform. He eventually finds it in the corner of the one, holding a glass of wine looking at the other guests uncomfortable.

 

“I never thought I’d see the day that you voluntarily went to a dance club, Adam,” Keith says, laughing as he finally makes it towards Adam.

 

“Well, the situation seems to call for it so I’m willing to do something...dire,” Adam replies dully. He pushes up his glasses and sighs. “Let’s just sit down and talk.”

 

The two sit in awkward silence as they wait for each other to start first. Keith watches Adam shifting from arm to arm while tapping his feet as if he could bolt out of this place at any moment.

 

“So,” Keith drawls. “How has the Garrison been? I know it’s been two days but still...You mentioned Griffin?”

 

“Yes! I-I mean yeah I did.”

 

The awkward silence comes back.

 

“Look Adam. I appreciate you trying to talk Iverson out of firing me. It meant a lot to me.”

 

“Of course I would Keith, your like a brother to me.”

 

“Why did you ask me out today?”

 

Adam opens his mouth but instantly closes it. His hands twitch as if he wants to fiddles with his glasses. “I…Wanted to make sure you were okay Keith. Lance told me what happened outside the Garrison and-”

 

“Of course he did!”

 

“Keith, I highly think he’s right about the anger management classes. If something like this happens again then I won’t be there to help you.”

 

“I’m fine Adam. I don’t need classes to control my anger, I’m perfectly capable!”

 

Adam winces and lowers his head. “Keith lower your voice we're getting stared at.”

 

As Adam said, other patrons were staring at their table. Keith didn’t notice how the music was lowered so everyone could have heard it. Keith blushes and looks away from the prying eyes.

 

“Well then,” Keith starts, pushing himself up from his seat. “If all you came here for is to reprimand me then I’ll be going.”

 

“Keith.’ A hand grabs his arm. “This is the kind of behavior I am talking about and I can’t say I approve of it. I promise you, it’s for the best.”

 

“It’s my life Adam, I am allowed to do whatever I want with it. You don’t know what is best for me, I do, so keep your nose out of other people’s business all right!”

 

“Are you even hearing yourself? Keith, you never use to act like this. What’s going on with you?”

 

“Just shut up Adam and leave me alone! Don’t you have work soon? You should be going.”

 

Adam says nothing. He just stands, the glare from the lights reflecting off his glasses hiding his eyes, and leaves. Keith slumps back down in his seat, alone.

 

  
~

 

 

Today was just fantastic for Keith Kogane, who was currently hanging upside down in a crashed Red Lion. It wasn’t Keith fault that he didn’t see one of the Galra ships, he was more concern watching Shiro’s back that he forgot to watch his own.

 

S: Keith are you okay!??

 

Shiro’s head pops up in the corner of his vision, with a panicked look on his face. Keith let’s out a groan in response. He could practically hear the Coran tutorial ball looking at him with a smugly even though it didn’t even have a face.

 

“You should have taken the tutorial on how to pilot the Red Lion Keith.” It says, flying in front of Keith’s face.

 

K: “How funny.”

 

“For me very.” It chirps.

 

Keith tries to smack it away from him but it moves just out of his reach and makes a teasing noise.

 

The ground shook slightly as the Black Lion’s feet appeared in his vision. It was quiet for a while until he heard footsteps come from behind him.

 

K: “Look I’m having a really bad day today so if your a Galra please leave.”

 

Shiro's head pops up in front of him with a small smile.

 

S: I don’t think they would care Keith. You are obviously fine since your making jokes at a time like this.

 

K: “Yes, I’m hilarious, now could you please help me out.”

 

S: Right

 

Keith doesn’t know what Shiro did, but the next thing he knows is that he is face first on the ground.

 

K: “No warning first?”

 

Shiro shrugs.

 

S: We have to hurry Keith. It seems like whoever gave us the information lead us into a trap.

 

K: "So they did know we were coming."

 

S: There is no time to wallow. Let’s just hurry and destroy it so we can get back home.

 

K: "Shouldn’t we call the others?"

 

S: No, we should be fine. Luckily, the base is small so we shouldn’t have to worry about too much.

 

Keith nods and grabs his bayard. Shiro seemed to have taken care of all the other ships since they had no trouble sneaking into the base.

 

S: Stay close Keith, It seems like most of the glara here are just sentries.

 

As he said, sentries were walking down every hallway on patrol.

 

K: "I don’t like this at all."

 

S: But if they’re these many sentries here there is sure to be something important here.

 

K: "So what’s the plan?"

 

S: They seem to have a set area to patrol right?

 

K: "I guess."

 

Shiro quiets, his eyes trained on a sentry that walks past their hiding spot. He taps his fingers, with his eyes staring straight ahead of him. It was when another sentry appears in front of him he turns back to Keith.

 

S: Twenty seconds.

 

K: "Twenty seconds?"

 

S: For each rotation. There is a twenty-second gap between each.

 

K: "Which means we have twenty seconds to move without being caught."

 

S: Exactly, I also notice how they always look straight so try to stay close to the wall.

 

The two make it down the hallway, hiding every twenty seconds from the sentries. Keith feels himself holding his breath every time a sentry walked past, afraid that he might be spotted. His eyes constantly found Shiro’s everytime they stopped. He wants to ask him why he was staring at him but the risk of being caught was too high. It was long before they reached the main control room, which was surprisingly empty.

 

S: I doubt it, but let’s try to see if there is anything important here.

 

K: "Never hurts too I guess."

 

The two search the databases for anything. Keith was getting annoyed by the flying symbols passing by him.

 

K: "I can’t understand any of this! How do I know what’s important?"

 

Shiro is about to say something, but he freezes his eyes widening as here stares at something behind Keith. He didn’t get a chance to see what he was looking at because next thing he knows he on the ground holding his side like a hot sensation spreads through him. It didn’t hurt, but it was more surprising.

 

He hears a loud roar from behind him, but the sentry is unfazed and aims at Keith again. He doesn’t know how Shiro teleported across the room to the sentry but his prosthetic was through the torso of it. It slumps over deactivated, but Shiro isn’t done yet. He lets the sentry drops to the floor and smashes its head underneath his foot until it became barely recognizable. He then grabs the sentry’s gun and smashes it against its middle.

 

Shiro looked like a federal animal. His eyes wide as he bares his teeth, his hands trembling as he smashes the robot, and his breathing as if he just ran a marathon. Keith is scared to approach him, but they have to get out of there. He flinches when he touches Shiro’s shoulder and he turns around, his eyes filled with something dark.

 

K: "Well...I think you got him Shiro, my hero."

 

That joke fell flat even for him, but Shiro didn’t care. He laughs quietly with a small smile. Well, that was until he jolts up likes he’s been shocked.

 

S: God Keith you gotten shot in the side, we have to make sure you’re okay.

 

K: "I’m fine Shiro."

 

The heat left him a long time ago actually, but he couldn’t tell him that of course. Shiro shook his head, his hand grabs Keith’s shoulder as his eyes scan over Keith’s torso.

 

S: At Least let me-

 

K: "I’m fine Shiro."

 

Keith feels his heart drop slightly as he watches Shiro wilt. With a heavy sigh, he tries to look annoyed.

 

K: "Fine, you can check it out when we get back to the Castle of Lions if you really want to waste your time."

 

S: Thank you, Keith.

 

The world freezes as Shiro friend bar appeared in front of him, it barely moves up at all.

 

“That’s weird.”

 

Keith doesn’t even jump as he sees the tutorial ball appear in front of him, it’s mustache looks like it has been shocked.

 

K: "What is?"

 

“You should still be an associate with him. I mean it only been three days Keith.”

 

K: "You don’t believe I can make friends in three days?"

 

“No, of course not Keith, maybe in real life, yes, but this is a game. If you could befriend someone this easily the game would get boring. That’s why they made it difficult to befriend the AI.”

 

~

 

... .... .. .-. --- / ..-. .-. --- .-- -. ... / .- - / - .... .. ... / -.. . ...- . .-.. --- .--. -- . -. - .-.-.- / .... . / .... .- -. -.. ... / - .- .--. / - .... . / -... .- .-. / -... .-.. .- -.-. -.- / ..-. .-.. --- .- - .. -. --. / .. -. / ..-. .-. --- -. - / --- ..-. / .... .. -- / .- -. -.. / .. - / ... .... --- --- - ... / ..-. --- .-. .-- .- .-. -.. ... / ..- -. - .. .-.. / .. - / -... . -.-. --- -- . ... / ..-. ..- .-.. .-.. .-.-.- / - .... . / - .. - .-.. . / .----. ..-. .-. .. . -. -.. .----. / --. .-.. .. - -.-. .... . ... / --- ..- - / ..- -. - .. .-.. / - .... . / .----. -... . ... - / ..-. .-. .. . -. -.. .----. / .- .--. .--. . .- .-. ... / .. -. / .. - ... / .--. .-.. .- -.-. . .-.-.- / .... .. ... / . -.-- . ... / --. --- / -... .- -.-. -.- / - --- / -.- . .. - .... / .- -. -.. / .----. -.-. --- .-. .- -. .----. / .-- .... --- / .- .-. . / .-- .... .. ... .--. . .-. .. -. --. / - --- / . .- -.-. .... / --- - .... . .-. .-.-.- / .... . / -- --- ...- . ... / -... .- -.-. -.- / - --- / .... .. ... / --- .-. .. --. .. -. .- .-.. / .--. --- ... .. - .. --- -. / .- -. -.. / ..-. .-. . . --.. . ... --..-- / .-- .- .. - .. -. --. / ..-. --- .-. / - .... . / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. / - --- / .-. . - ..- .-. -. / - --- / -. --- .-. -- .- .-.. .-.-.-

 

  
~

 

  
K: "Look Coran, or whatever you are, I don’t really care."

 

“You should Keith! Tell me, have you seen anything strange happen recently?”

 

His mind instantly goes back to Pidge and the music stopping at certain times.

 

K: "No, it’s been fine."

 

Though it didn’t have eyes, he could feel it silently judging him. Keith glares at it.

 

“Look, Keith, tell me if you see anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, unusual. You are supposed to be the beta tester after all so your suppose to be looking for this kind of stuff anyways.”

 

K: "Right...Now let me go back, to actually testing the game now?"

 

The world brightens and resumes. Shiro blinks dumbly and shakes his head with a shy grin.

 

S: Hmmm, I lost my train of thought for a second.

 

K: "It’s fine."

 

S: We should get out of here-

 

Suddenly, alarms were blaring around them as a loud explosion fell upon their eyes. The ground trembles underneath them. A countdown began in front of them.

 

S: They’re blowing up the base?

 

K: "Wait what?!? That must be why there were only sentries here."

 

S: We don’t have time to talk, we only have five minutes. We have to get out of here or we’ll be buried alive.

 

K: "Yeah you’re right."

 

S:...Are you going to be okay? We need to run, but if you're too-

 

K: "It’s my side, not my legs Shiro. I’ll be fine."

 

Keith and Shiro run out of the room. Sentries we’re flooding every hallway, shooting at them trying to slow them down. Shiro grabs Keith with his flesh hand, dragging him behind him as he cuts through the sentries with his prosthetic, taking most of the hits from them. One of the sentries try to grab Keith from behind, but Shiro tosses Keith to the side of him, and delivers a turning kick, knocking it down the of the floor. Keith raises an eyebrow at him and he shrugs.

 

They continue to escape the base, with Shiro keeping Keith close. Keith can tell Shiro was getting tired, from running and fighting sentries, so he unleashes his bayard and rushes past him. He slashes through them with ease. He could vision Shiro’s disapproving look behind him but he didn’t care at the moment. They need to get out of there now.

 

The exit was so close, just one more wall of sentries and they were free. Desperate, Keith charges towards the sentries, his sword ready to decapitate them. The building shakes underneath again and the alarms grow louder. The sentries more desperate as they grab Keith, trying to pin him down. Keith struggled in their grasp, trying to find an opening to free them. An announcement rang throughout the hallway.

 

S: We have two minutes!

 

He barely heard Shiro scream over the sound of him trying to get to Keith, but the sentries kept blocking his path. No matter how hard he tries to reach him, it was never enough. Two more sentries would replace the one he slain. Shiro lets a cry and reaches his hand to Keith as if he can grab him. Keith struggle harder, trying to at least free his arm to reach for Shiro, but nothing works. More sentries pinned him down as if it was nothing, blocking his view from the black paladin.

 

This was it. Keith knew he would be fine since he’s the main character and the story couldn’t progress without him, but Shiro...the game had permanent death for all AI.

 

He needs to be quick.

 

He needs to be smart.

 

He needs-

 

The only warning they got was a loud roar before the wall explodes. Red stuck her head in, sipping away the sentries with her claw. The sentries became distracted, giving Keith a chance to free himself, and open fired on the lion, but it had no effect. Red let out a deafening roar.

 

Shiro was still further back, but he was slowly making his way up.

 

K: "Shiro!"

 

S: Go, Keith!

 

K: "What?!? I’m not gonna leave you!"

 

S: We have one minute left, I’ll be fine. I’ll be right behind you, I promise.

 

Red lets out another roar.

 

S: Now Keith!

 

Keith glances at Shiro one last time before he breaks for the opening Red left for him. He jumps into Red and quickly makes his way to his control seat. He pulls back, getting Red out of the building and out into open. He couldn’t see Shiro anymore, but he couldn’t stop. Red rushes forward and jumps in the air.

 

The Black Lion stood there idly, waiting for its paladin to return.

 

Finally, he made it back out to space. He turns Red around to look at the planet, waiting for Black to show up and Shiro to appear in the corner of his screen all right.

 

He waits.

 

And waits.

 

God, has it already been a minute? Did Shiro not make it out? He has to go back now! Maybe it’s not too late-

 

Black suddenly zooms past Red in a blur.

 

Keith instantly connects to Shiro, who grins when he sees Keith’s face.

 

S: Told you I’ll be fine

 

K: "Don’t scare me like that idiot. "

 

S: Awh were you worried about me?

 

K: "Yes! Do you know how dreadful it was waiting for you?"

 

S: Keith, I didn’t mean to scare you.

 

Keith sinks back in his chair and pinches the bridge of his nose.

 

K: "You're going to be the end of me one day Shiro."

 

S: I’m really am Keith, but I have to protect you.

 

K: "I’m perfectly able to protect myself, Shiro, I’m not a child."

 

S: And I never called you one, you're still new to this whole thing Keith and you're my friend. I don’t like seeing friends getting hurt.

 

K: "Just because-"

 

S: **Keith**.

 

Keith freezes at the tone of Shiro’s voice, serious with some other emotion, possessive?

 

S: It already happened, we can’t change that. Let’s just go back to the castle.

 

K: "...Did we find anything important?"

 

S: No, I’m afraid everything I did find we already know, and if there was anything, it’s destroyed now.

 

K: "So it was all useless?!? We did this all for nothing!"

 

S: Calm down Keith, we can’t just expect things to always go our way. If we did, the war would have ended a long time ago. Patience yields focus.

 

Keith disconnects from Shiro. He almost lost Shiro over nothing! It was a big waste of time after all.

 

The two make their way back to the castle without talking to each other. They went to their own separate hangars and landed their Lions. Keith touches his chair, and Red purrs in response. Keith leaves the lion and notices that Allura, Pidge, and Hunk were all waiting for him with concern on their faces.

 

A: Keith we heard what happened. Are you all right? Shiro said it was pretty bad.

 

P: Yeah, but he also said you did amazing on your first job...well for a rookie.

 

H: We’re all still rookies Pidge

 

K: "I’m fine guys no need to worry."

 

P: You better be, after all, I need someone to help me when Hunk isn’t around.

 

K: "Of course that’s the only reason you care."

 

Keith ruffles her hair, and she snorts. Hunk and Allura look at the two with kind smiles.

 

A: We are all glad you’re back safely Keith.

 

They all glowed as their friend meters appear in front of them. All of them were still ‘Associates’ but with one more interaction, Keith is sure he’ll get the friend status soon.

 

H: You must be tired, right? We should probably let you get some rest.

 

K: "Yeah."

 

P: See ya, Keith!

 

Pidge grabs Hunk’s hand and drags him out of the hangar. Allura nods at Keith before following them out.

 

With one last glance at Red. He leaves to his room to get ready to log off…

 

Well, he was going to until Shiro got in the way.

 

K: "Yes?"

 

S: You said I could check you out when we get back...To make sure you were okay.

 

K: "Right. Let’s just get this over with."

 

Keith walks past him not bothering to look at Shiro, but he knows he’s following him like a lost puppy. Luckily, for Keith, his room wasn’t that far away.

 

Keith practically throws off his armor to the side of his bed and jumps in it, his face snuggling into his pillow. Shiro was staring at him, a slight blush on his face.

 

Cute.

 

K: "All right, let’s get this over with so I can sleep."

 

Keith lifts his shirt, for Shiro to examine him. Shiro’s flesh hand felt cool against his skin.

 

S: That’s strange.

 

K: "What is it? Does it look back?"

 

S: No, quite the opposite really, in fact, it looks like you didn’t get shot at all.

 

Crud.

 

K: "I heal fast?"

 

Without warning, Shiro takes Keith’s arm and scans it for any bruises.

 

S: I was sure that...Maybe I...No, impossible…

 

K: "Shiro are you okay?"

 

If Keith, looks carefully he can see the lines of code through Shiro's eyes as he tries to formulate a response.

 

S: Yes, I must be more tired than I thought.

 

K: "Well, today was a lot."

 

Shiro stands up.

 

S: I should let you sleep. I’ll talk to you later.

 

As soon as Shiro leaves, Keith hits the pause button and logs out and waits.

 

There was a slight delay but he was pushed out of the game, with no sight of the main menu man from before. Keith is kinda concerned about his sudden disappearance, but he doesn’t want to tell Rolo yet if he is a bug or not.

 

  
~

 

 

Shiro walks down the hallway, away from Keith’s room. A smile, that was far to stretched in his opinion, plastered on his face as he runs into the other paladins, but brushes them aside. There is only one person he’s interested in talking to at the moment.

 

Coran was sitting on the floor, reading something in a white hardcover book when Shiro finds him. He drops the smile and instead puts on a face of concern.

 

S: Excuse me, Coran?

 

The man jumps, almost dropping his book.

 

C: Ah, it’s just you Shiro. Don’t sneak up on me like that, I could have full on attacked you.

 

S: Wouldn’t want that to happen now.

 

The two chuckle at this.

 

C: What can I help you with?

 

S: Well…

 

Shiro itches the side of his head and looks away shyly.

 

S: I wanted to learn more about Keith’s heritage.

 

C: Oh, well I did mention that Keith was a human right?

 

S: Yes you did, but something odd happened today.

 

The sound of a book slamming echo throughout the room, as an anxious expression passes through his face.

 

C: What happened?

 

S: Well you see, during today’s mission I was highly positive that I saw one of the sentries shoot Keith on the side, but when I checked there seem to be nothing there. Not mention, the fact he should’ve been bruised from all the sentries pinning him down.

 

C: Are you sure you saw nothing? Maybe he didn’t-

 

S: I know what I saw Coran.

 

C: Perhaps, he just heals faster than most.

 

S: He’s a human, Coran. Not even we heal that fast.

 

C: I use the term ‘human’ lightly.

 

S: What is that suppose to mean? Didn’t you say he was a human?

 

C: That is what Keith told me, yes, but maybe he doesn’t know if he is fully human or not. I mean think about it, how did even get into space in the first place.

 

S:...I did always find that odd.

 

C: Well then, that’s your answer.

 

S: I’m afraid I can’t accept that.

 

C: Well it’s the only one you're going to get. Now, if you can please get going, I am a little busy at the moment.

 

S: Right of course, but Coran.

 

C: Yes?

 

S: That book your holding. I can’t say I never have seen it before...Where did you get it?

 

C: This is something my grandfather left me, that’s all.

 

S: Would you mind if I look at it.

 

C: NO! I mean no, it wouldn’t be something you would like, trust me. It put youngsters like you to sleep on the first page.

 

S: Surely, it can’t be that boring if you’re reading it.

 

C: Because it was the last gift my grandfather given me, I wouldn’t just throw it out without reading it.

 

S: Perhaps, when you finish you could let me borrow it?

 

C: No Shiro.

 

S: No?

 

C: I’m sorry, but this book means a lot to me and I don’t want anyone else to even touch it, who isn’t me.

 

Shiro raises his hands up in defense.

 

S: I’m sorry for upsetting you a lot today Coran. How about we can settle things down by relaxing later today? I can make you a drink, while we talk.

 

C: As pleasant as that sounds Shiro, I’m afraid I already have plans for today and it’s going to be a busy day already.

 

S: Perhaps we can reschedule?

 

C: Maybe, I’ll think about it.

 

S: Well come find me when you make up your mind.

 

Coran's eyes stay on Shiro until he completely disappears from view. He opens the book, briefly glancing over Shiro.chr.

 

C: “I don’t get it. Everything seems normal about him.”

 

One of his many, tutorial balls comes from behind a chair and rolls over to him, knocking into his legs gently.

 

“Do you need us to take care of the problem?”

 

C: “No.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

C: “...For now, just watch over the player. I will keep a safe eye on Shiro but listen to this now. If something happens to me or this book, instantly go to him and report it. We must never let anyone get their hands on both of these, Understood?”

 

“Of course.”

 

C: “After, you tell him. You have permission to delete anyone or anything that steals the book.”

 

“Of course.”

 

C: “You are dismissed.”

 

The robot rolls back behind the chair, out of Coran’s view. Shiro.chr stares at him from the page. ‘I know something you don’t’ it seems to say. He has right the mind to just tear this stupid book in half, but he knows he can’t. It was too important, without it all of the Paladin’s .chr files would be deleted causing them to be nothing more than their character models. Blank, unnerving, dull, and lifeless. He would never hear Allura’s laughter, Pidge rants when she doesn’t understand something, Hunk’s talks about his family, or Shiro’s teachings about patience.

 

If he could live his life without worrying about some book for one second, it would be a dream he would refuse to wake up from.

 

A: Coran?

 

C: Gah! Princess, you almost scared me there.

 

A: I been here for a little bit.

 

C: My apology.

 

A: You seem to have a lot on your mind.

 

C: Well you know me, I’m always thinking of some ways to help defeat the Glara.

 

A: Indeed you are.

 

  
~

 

 

Lance enters his house sometime around four in the morning, with a slight stumble. He throws his bag on to the couch and heads to their-Keith’s room. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face when he enters he sees Keith, arms, and legs spread across the bed as he snores softly.

 

He is tempted to join him but decides against it. Keith probably doesn’t want to talk or to matter of fact, look at him since he mad at him. That doesn’t stop him from pressing a kiss against the side of his lover’s head.

 

It was then he notices some sort of weird VR thing on the bedside table. The word ‘Beezer’ was written on the side. Lance picks it up and examines it.

 

“I don’t remember buying this?” He mutters to himself. Keith shifts on the bed causing Lance to almost drop the Beezer. With one last look, he hastily puts the thing back onto the table.

 

He makes a side note to ask Keith about it when he has the chance, but for now, he needs to get some rest. Iverson has been relentless with assigning extra hours to him ever since Keith got- left the job. Then again, Iverson never did like Keith, so perhaps this was his payback? It doesn’t matter anyway, as long as Lance earns his share then he’ll take a twenty-four-hour shift of answering phones and dealing with annoying customers. But he’s fine with the seven am to four am for now.

 

He gathers his night clothes from his side of the room and throws them on, trying to not wake Keith up in the process. Grabbing a blue piece of paper and pen, he sneaks out of the room and into the kitchen.

 

_Morning Keith! Here's note #2 :D. Work feels weird without you there. To be honest, it seems kinda boring without our little trio. I mean I still have Adam, but it’s just not the same you know? Anyways, we are going to have a work party coming up soon and Iverson said that only current workers are allowed to come. I’m pretty sure he was looking at me when he said that, but I honestly don’t care. I noticed you wrote back on my first note...maybe you can start doing that for all of the notes I write? It feels like that is the only chance I’ll have to really talk to you when I don’t have days off. Also on my free time, I was able to look up some anger management classes that had positive reviews, I’ll leave them attached to this note. Please actually take the time to look these up before you just discard the cards. Remember to eat Keith, I can’t be there to stay on top of you anymore. Love you!_

He sticks the note onto the fridge right next to his last one, writing in back curvy letters, ‘README’ before heading to the guest room.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Uifwj...Ti yic kojt or O wem yic w gcsedoij?"  
> "Ir uicfes jid! O'll wjeasf wjydpojq rif w rfosjt."  
> "Dps .upf rolse yic uwffy...Ti yic hsfpwhe edoll pwbs Ebsj'e?"  
> "Wmofw, yic wemst ks dpoe kwjy dokse vsrifs."  
> "O MJIA VCD-"  
> "Yic mjia ps'e qijs. Apy ti yic nced wuushd od."  
> "PS OEJ'D, O UWJ EDOLL RSSL POK."  
> "Wmofw, hlswes."  
> "PS'E AODP DPS IDPSFE!"  
> "..."  
> "J-Jid dpies edchot ulijse, vcd dps FSWL ijse."  
> "Edih."  
> "Wllcfw, Hotqs, Pcjm, Pye-"  
> "Dpwd'e sjicqp Wmofw!"  
> "Dpsy'fs awodojq rif ce Uifwj uwj'd yic ess!"  
> "EPCD CH!"  
> "..."  
> "Gcoxjwm...Liim O totj'd kswj di ysll wd yic vcd hlswes edih."  
> "O totj'd kswj-"  
> "O'k eiffy Wmofw, vcd dpsy'fs qijs, rifsbsf. Tslsdst."  
> "Tslsdst..."  
> "Sbsfy lwed ijs ir dpsk."  
> "O edoll fsrces di vslosbs yic, ky rfosjt."  
> "Dpsj tij'd, od aij'd upwjqs dps rwud."  
> "Apsfs wfs yic qiojq, Uifwj?"  
> Hint: 01010010 01100101 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110100  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy your day!


End file.
